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Sunday, July 5, 2015

Good Trip, Great Friends!

Matt and I have been good friends with K since we went to middle school. We've grown up, she's grown up, we've all gotten married, she moved to another state...but we have still remained friends. We love her husband R too, so it was wonderful to be able to spend a few days with them at their home. They were such gracious hosts with a beautiful house!

Their 3 kids are so much fun, and we absolutely loved playing with them! Abby and Caleb haven't stopped talking about how much fun they had with them.

R is a doctor, so he had to work during the day. We enjoyed lots of quality time with K and the kids!

One of the first things we did was visit the Sturgis Pretzel Factory, which was lots of fun. The kids learned how to roll pretzels and enjoyed a yummy soft pretzel after the tour.

Then we went to a local park to feed the ducks and play on the playground. Unfortunately, K's oldest got badly scratched by a dog that got scared when she tried to pet him, and she had to get some stitches. Good thing her daddy is a doctor! It sure was a traumatic experience. Poor sweet girl!

The next day, we went to Kitchen Kettle Village to let the kids graze among the free samples and look around. I got my yummy Chow Chow and we let the kids play on the playground and visit the petting zoo. (This made K a little more nervous than usual, given yesterday's events, but all was well!)

I really, really loved these alpacas!!

The highlight of the trip was Dutch Wonderland! If you've never been there, it's a fantastic amusement park for the little ones. Caleb still liked it, although 8 is probably the max age for enjoyment. It's perfect for preschoolers though!

We learned that Abby's tolerance for rides is pretty low. Anything that swung her or jerked her at all made her back hurt, and I also noticed that she really had no control over her body when she spun around. While I could hold myself up during the teacup ride, she had to be held really tightly to keep from bashing her head into the side of the ride. So....no rollercoasters for Abs!

They had a whole forest of animated dinosaurs that we really fun!

We even managed to get in a little PT during our trip. These hand trains were a workout, but she did great!

The dive show was a big hit with all of the kids.

Abby and K's oldest are the same age, and they had a fantastic time together!

Honestly, despite all of the fun we had, I have to say my favorite times were our late night talks with K and R. Our discussions about Truth, parenting, and life in general were so refreshing. God is in every single part of their lives and I'm so thankful for their insights. I wish we lived closer (K tried desperately to get us to buy the house 3 doors down!), but it was so fun to "do life" with them for a few days. We love you, K and R!!!!!!